Karaoke Bar
by NecronLord
Summary: What happens when Asaka convinces Misaki to go to a new bar that opened downtown? Main pairing: KaixMisaki. Minor RenxAsaka included. Two-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**This came out _way_ longer than I expected. And will get a second chapter. Meh, I guess I had inspiration this time around.**

* * *

What at first seemed like an afternoon like any other, turned out to be the herald of a night full of surprises.

Misaki Tokura was sitting behind the counter, reading her book in silence. People in the card shop were playing _Cardfight! Vanguard _and having a good time. It really seemed like another ordinary afternoon at Card Capital, when the door slid open and someone who had never been seen in that shop before stepped in.

Asaka Narumi looked around, taking in her surroundings before moving towards the counter. The patrons eyed her suspiciously. Most of them knew her, since she was a renowned Vanguard fighter. So the fact that the _infamous_ Asaka Narumi stepped foot into their shop for the first time came off as a mild shock to them, and to the lavender-haired girl behind the counter.

Misaki knew Asaka all too well. She considered the other girl her rival ever since their first match. Over time she had become somewhat of a friend to her, but neither side would admit that.

"Welcome," said Misaki, still watching her closely. "Fancy seeing you here. You haven't come here before, have you?" Misaki was voicing the question most people around the shop had in their minds for the past minute.

"No, it's the first time I've visited," replied Asaka, her voice cold and professional. She nodded to the door that led to the back of the shop. "Can we talk in private?"

"We can talk here," came the reply from Misaki, in the same tone. "I don't see what you would like to tell me that can't be said here."

"Suit yourself," she shrugged. "What I wanted to say is that tonight I'm going to the new bar that opened two blocks from here, and I wanted you to come with me."

Okay, _nobody_ expected that. Realizing that the actions around the shop had ceased, Misaki shot a glare towards the customers. Everyone returned their attention to whatever they were doing, not wanting to provoke the girl that was infamous for kicking people out when they were fussing.

Turning her attention back to the other woman, Misaki closed her book and put it aside. She considered for a little before deciding to play it safe. "Why are you all of a sudden asking _me_ of all people to come to this... _bar_?"

"Don't get the wrong impression, it's not like I _want _you there," Asaka countered. "But I assure you, what you'll see there is worth your attention."

"I'm not interested. Why don't you go with Ren? He'd love to go, I'm sure." Misaki replied, clearly not interested at all.

"Ren can't come, he has things to do," replied Asaka, receiving a puzzled expression from Misaki.

"What things?" she asked suspiciously.

"You'll know if you come with me," the Pale Moon user smirked at the Genesis cardfighter.

Misaki gritted her teeth, but she pondered for a moment. Asaka wasn't usually talking nonsense, so it might really be in her best interests to go. But what if it was a prank? In the end however, her curiosity got the better of her.

"Fine, I'll keep you company," she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest and looking away. Asaka suddenly jumped forward and hugged her out of delight.

"Great! Trust me, you won't regret it!"

"Okay, now stop hugging me and shouting in my ear!"

* * *

Later that day, Misaki and Asaka met at Card Capital, ready to go. They decided to walk to their destination. They approached the target building, where Asaka led the other girl towards the side of the structure, where a small door was, the light above it illuminating the doorway.

Opening the door and entering the dimly lit bar, Misaki was alerted of the music coming from a corner of the room. Before the girls had time to register what music it was, it had stopped. Some of the customers that were already there clapped softly in appreciation. Asaka led Misaki to the bar, where she ordered a cocktail. "It's my favorite," she smiled at her friend.

The bartender turned to Misaki, who replied plainly, "Same as her." The young man took to making the beverages, while the girls turned around to regard the bar. They instantly detected movement in the corner where the music was coming a while ago. Three figures were coming down from a slightly elevated platform. _The source of the music probably_, Misaki deduced. Taking their place were four men, in their early twenties Misaki assumed from their build and stature. Feeling a nudge, Misaki turned to see Asaka tapping her shoulder, signaling their drinks had arrived. Muttering a 'thank you', she took the glass and sipped. _It's good_, she thought.

"So," Asaka began, "How do you like it here?"

"It's nice. Certainly a place to relax," Misaki replied thoughtfully before adding. "From the looks of it."

Asaka smirked. The lavender-haired girl was always skeptical of things, sometimes more than she should. "Just wait till that band starts playing." Misaki looked at Asaka puzzled, but she found the blue-haired girl already looking towards the corner. Misaki decided to do the same and see for herself what Asaka wasn't telling her the entire afternoon.

At the corner, the two men in front of the small band began stroking their guitars, soon joined by the drums player, and the bassist. Misaki decided she liked the tune, but all her thoughts were washed away when the leading man began singing.

_**Tsuyo-sa o motometa mujaki-sa ga naze**_

_**Hagayui kizuna o azawarau yō ni**_

_**Hanarete shimatta kokoro wa ima mo**_

_**Kienai itami o kakushimotta mama**_

_That voice! Kai!_

Right there in the middle of the band was Toshiki Kai, with an electric guitar in his arms and a microphone on a stand in front of him.

_**Doko de machigatta nodarou**_

_**Hikikaesenai yume no tochū de**_

_**Kotae wa itsu ka wakaru-sa**_

_**Kachi tsudzukeru koto de shōmei shiyou**_

_**Kōkai o nuguu tame ni**_

_**Tsuranuke, mō nan karamo nidoto nige wa shinai**_

Under the dim light, Misaki could make out the rest of them. She recognized the red mane of Ren Suzugamori playing the guitar alongside Kai, with the blond Taishi Miwa playing the drums and Tetsu Shinjou stroking a bass guitar. They were perfectly in sync, as if the song had become part of them.

_**Kisoi ainagara oretachi ga mita**_

_**Shōri wa tashika ni kibōdatta hazu**_

_**Yugamu kachikan no hate ni**_

_**Barabaraninatta CARD o sagasou**_

_**Hitasura susumu mirai o**_

_**Kiri hiraku no wa kesshite orenai PRIDE **_

_**Anogoro onaji egao de**_

_**Migaki atte wakari aeta hibi mune ni daite**_

_**Dare no seide mo nakute**_

_**Tada sorezore ga junsuidattakara**_

_**Kotae wa itsu ka wakaru-sa**_

_**Kachi tsudzukeru koto de shōmei shiyou**_

_**Kōkai o nuguu tame ni**_

_**Tsuranuke, mō nan karamo nidoto nige wa shinai**_

As the song ended, Misaki found herself wanting more. She never knew Kai had such an awesome singing voice, or the fact the four boys were so good with music. _I guess there's always something to learn about the people around you_.

Noticing her friend and rival in such a dazed state, another smirk found its way to Asaka's lips. "See?" she commented. "I knew you'd like it."

Misaki turned to throw some witty remark at her, but stopped when she noticed the guys coming up at them.

"Yo, sis! Asaka-chan!" greeted the blonde drummer, grinning from ear to ear.

"Drop the '-chan'," Asaka retorted venomously. The boy pretended to be hurt by her words, his grin not fading in the slightest.

"Come now A-chan, don't be so uptight!" came an even more cheerful voice from the red-haired male beside them. "Miwa-chan doesn't intend any harm, right?"

"Right, right!" Miwa said, donning an apologetic smile.

"R-R-Ren-sama!" Asaka mentally cursed herself for stuttering again in front of her leader and boyfriend.

Ren pouted. "I thought I told you to call me just Ren."

Asaka mentally cursed herself again. "Right, sorry Ren."

"How are you doing Asaka, Tokura?" Tetsu asked politely, towering above them.

"We're fine, thank you Tetsu," Asaka responded in the same tone. "Great performance you all gave. I see the rehearsals paid off."

"Wait, you _knew _about all this since the very beginning?" Misaki asked scandalized. Asaka smirked yet again.

"Of course she did! We were rehearsing at the Foo Fighters HQ!" Ren reasoned. Misaki stared at her female friend in disbelief.

"It doesn't matter now, does it? Since you were awestruck." Asaka continued smirking.

"Well… yeah. That was a great performance you guys. Good job!" Misaki gave them a thumbs-up.

"Thanks sis." Miwa beamed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta go the restroom," he said sheepishly. "See ya in a few." Miwa turned to leave, while Ren, Tetsu and Asaka were heading towards one of the few empty tables. The young man with the spiky brown hair regarded them for a moment, before twisting in place to join Misaki on the bar.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hello Kai, great job you did back there," she said in awe.

Kai kept looking forward, giving his order to the bartender before answering her. "It was nothing, thanks."

"I didn't know you could sing that well."

He grunted, not knowing what to say. Silence ensued, with the only thing momentarily interrupting it was the bartender returning with a beer. Kai drank a little, before turning to regard Misaki. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me."

Misaki thought for a moment, not sure of an answer. She settled on a question that had been raised to her since the lyrics of the song began. "Did you write the lyrics for the song yourself?"

"Yeah."

"I see," she said, before mustering the courage to question him further. "I never knew you felt that way."

"What way?" he asked, although he knew exactly where she was going with this.

"The lyrics. They-"

"That was a long time ago," he interrupted her. He glanced over at Ren, who was tugging Asaka towards them. _How much things have changed_, he thought, _how much different we all are compared to back then_.

"Hey Kai, MisaQ!"

"I told you to stop calling me that," Misaki hissed at the pet name Ren used to call her for no apparent reason.

"Come now, don't be like that!" Ren said happily. '_Where does he find that energy?'_ both Kai and Misaki wondered. "Anyway, I wanted to say Asaka and I have to take our leave now. I'm tired from the singing!"

Misaki facepalmed, while Kai simply sighed. "Suit yourselves," he told them before turning his back to them.

"Oh, by the way, Te-chan is asking you guys to join him and Miwa-chan. Don't stay here by yourselves!" The couple headed towards the exit, leaving the two teenagers by themselves once more.

They were silent, but this time it was a comfortable silence. They didn't need to continue speaking; they already knew what was going through each other's head regarding the topic they dropped. Misaki felt that Kai wanted to say something, but a second later she thought she got the wrong idea about his facial expressions in the dim lighting of the bar.

"Hey, Tokura…" he began warily.

"Hm?"

"There's this shop across the street from my school," he stated. "It has really good ice-cream. Wanna go there tomorrow? It's Saturday and we don't have school anyway."

"You mean, like a date?" she asked, a little shocked.

"Call it whatever you want," he replied, although it came out more rudely than he wanted. Sighing, he continued. "Anyway, does 3:30 PM sound alright?"

"Sure, where will we meet?"

"I'll drop by Card Capital," he said, trying not to smile in relief. And partially failing to do so, leaving him a strange look on his face.

"Anyway, let's go join the others now," she said, a little amused by his look. "Shall we?"

"Yeah," he said, and they paced towards the table, where Miwa had already returned, and sat with him and Tetsu. While they were talking and having a good time, they couldn't help but think of the next day's meeting, and a little smile would creep to their lips every time.

* * *

**For those who don't know, the song is _Kibou no Shoumei_ sang by Kai's seiyuu, Takuya Satou. It's Kai's character song for the first season. Google is your friend if you want a translation of the lyrics.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here it is! The second chapter. I'm not quite satisifed with it (probably because it wasn't even in the original imagining of the story) but I've already rewritten it once and trying more times I think would make it worse. So, I'll leave the judging to you.**

* * *

The sunlight crept through the window, annoying Misaki rather than waking her up smoothly. Getting up from her bed, Misaki stretched her arms as she walked towards the bathroom. Her actions were done rather mechanically, since she was still in a daze due to last night's adventures. Coming home at midnight, she had found her uncle in the living room, trying desperately to stay awake. After thoroughly checking to see if she was alright, he had gone to his bed and crashed. Unbeknownst to her, she would have the same fate; as soon as she had changed to the shirt she slept in, she collapsed on the bed. So it was only natural to wake up with such difficulty.

The woman changed into her everyday clothes and went downstairs to have breakfast with her uncle, who appeared to have morning difficulties, too.

"So," he began, "did you enjoy yourself last night?"

"Yes." Misaki replied.

"Anything out of the ordinary?"

It didn't take much thought to realize the overprotective Shin Nitta was interrogating his niece for any activities he would deem inappropriate. But Misaki didn't care.

"No." Not that she was lying.

"I see…" he said, and returned to his plate.

"Oh, I just remembered I'll be going somewhere at 3:30 this afternoon," she stated, watching amused as her uncle threw his chopsticks in the air, overreacting.

"B-but, the shop and-"

"You'll manage without me," she said quite coldly. That forced him to calm down.

"And who will you be going with, if I may ask?"

She chewed her food slowly before answering. "With Kai," she said, expecting the man-child to complain more – even without an actual reason –, and got ready to ignore him. But she was surprised with the answer that did come from Shin's mouth.

"Ah, with Kai-kun. Well then, take care."

"Ehh, right, thanks."

* * *

The first half of the day went smoothly. Misaki was reading her book when it wasn't required of her to do anything. When it was, she would hastily do it, and return behind the counter to continue her book from where she left it. She kept glancing at the clock, noting the time before going back to reading.

When the clock on the wall indicated twenty past three, Misaki popped up from her chair and went upstairs to her room. After changing into casual clothes – a turtleneck blouse, blue vest and white skirt – she grabbed her purse and went back downstairs to make her way towards the exit.

"What time will you be coming back, Misaki?" the voice of Shin was heard.

Sighing, she turned her head around and answered, her voice dripping with annoyance. "An hour or two from now. See ya."

"When she decides on something, nothing will get her to change her mind," the manager murmured before returning to his work.

Outside, Misaki was patiently waiting for Kai to show up. The minutes passed, and although she didn't quite comprehend it, she was happy she would be going out with a friend of hers. '_When was the last time I went out with a friend?_' she asked herself, recollecting that the last time was five months before, in celebration of their win against Link Joker. Quite a long time for a girl her age, but she didn't really like outings. Or, she just wasn't used to them. '_Like Kai._'

Speaking of Kai, there he was turning around the corner, dressed in a red shirt, brown jacket and blue jeans. "Hey," he greeted.

"Hello," she replied. "How are you?"

"Fine, thanks," said Kai, swiftly and emotionlessly.

'_Still grumpy, huh?'_,she thought.

"Shall we go?" he asked.

"With pleasure," she replied with a soft smile.

* * *

"So, any news?" asked Misaki, licking a strawberry ice-cream while sitting on a bench across the street from the park. The same bench Kai liked to take his afternoon naps on.

"No, same as always." The man seated beside her replied, eyes focused on looking forward, as if looking anywhere else would betray his thoughts. Misaki sighed at this.

"OK Kai, spill it out; what's troubling you?"

"Nothing," he said firmly. But he could sense she wasn't convinced. He went back to licking his own ice-cream, flavored chocolate.

A few minutes passed without either of them talking. Misaki had finished her ice-cream and was looking at her shoes, but her thoughts were actually on the man by her side. As soon as Kai had swallowed the last bite from the cone, she got ready to interrogate him.

"How come _you_ ask _me_ of all people to go on a date, walk or whatever it is you call it in your head?"

"No particular reason," he replied in the same firm voice as before. Either he was telling the truth or he was a very good liar.

"Really?" she arched an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, Tokura." He was getting irritated now. "It's nothing."

"No, it's not."

"Look Tokura, I wanted someone to understand me silently, if you are to pester me, you better leave now."

"If you think you can live like this, you're gravely mistaken!" she glared at him.

He sighed, trying to compose himself. "I don't think anything like that; I understand exactly how I can or can't live."

"Then what is it that bothers you?" she asked, nicely and softly this time. She leaned in, accidentally showing her cleavage to the boy. Kai's face heat up, so he stood upright and attempted to think of an answer to give her.

"It's… well, ever since the Reverse fiasco – when Aichi made me realize a few things – I decided I should be a little more open to people. That's why I proposed forming the band with the guys."

"Wait, it was _your_ idea?" Misaki couldn't believe her ears; since when does Kai suggest doing group activities?

"See? I knew you'd be surprised," said Kai, a wicked smirk on his lips. "Anyway, I asked you out simply because I _wanted_ to. Is it that hard to fathom?"

Misaki began feeling uneasy. This didn't seem like the usual Kai. At all. "No, but… You've changed, Kai."

"Hmph," he replied, back to his old self for a moment, before smirking again. Slowly, he leaned in towards her and lowered his voice. "Besides, who _wouldn't_ want to go out with you?"

Blood rushed to Misaki's cheeks. '_Is he bipolar or something? Just a minute ago he was angry and now he's flirting with me?'_ She began stuttering; and cursed herself for doing so. She cleared her throat and attempted to speak clearly. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"What do you _want_ it to mean?"

Misaki didn't know what got into her, but she decided to play along. "Now now, Kai; if you're attracted to me you should just day so. There's no reason to be beating around the bush."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "The… bush?" His gaze drifted downwards. Misaki caught on to the innuendo rather quickly, which earned her a red face and Kai a slap on his cheek.

"You pervert!"

"Whatever," he said, unable to suppress his chuckles. He stood. "I gotta go now. Will I see you again?"

"Of course you will," she said rather puzzled, while standing as well. "You come by Card Capital every day."

"I meant: 'Will you go on another date with me?'"

"Only if you settle on what face you will be wearing," she told him, referring to his abrupt behavior changes over the course of few minutes. The man simply shrugged.

"I'll try to; just don't expect me to be what you'd consider 'typical Kai'. As you've said, I have changed. For better or for worse, that I don't know."

"I'd like to think it's for the best," she began musing, "but I'd need more clues to work with."

"And I'd be happy to provide you with them," he replied. He turned to take his leave. "See ya." He didn't get to take three steps before Misaki remembered something she wanted to say.

"Hey…" Kai turned around. "The ice-cream was really good." A smile found its way to his lips. A genuine smile this time. He turned around to leave for good this time, and Misaki couldn't help but look at his retreating form and smile.

She could get used to this.

* * *

**So: Did you like it? No? Review please. Till next time!**


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